Investigation continues into female remains found in Sedalia

SEDALIA, MO (KPLR) – There was new information Wednesday night in a human dismemberment case near Sedalia, Missouri, about 190 miles west of St. Louis, in Pettis County.

Authorities found human remains, Sunday, at the home of a man who was a suspect in two St. Louis area murder cases dating back 50 years.

A maintenance worker found a human arm in a metal box next to the trailer home of Joseph Arbeiter, 65.

Hours later, authorities found more body parts in a wooded area about 150 yards from the trailer.

A autopsy, still ongoing Wednesday night, showed the body parts were all from the same victim, an adult white female, said Pettis County Sheriff, Kevin Bond.

Joseph Arbeiter first made news in 1963 at age 15 in St. Louis.

He was convicted of the murder of a 28 year old mother near Grand and Chippewa during a burglary.

The Missouri Supreme Court threw out the conviction, taking issue with the prosecutor’s use of Arbeiter’s juvenile records. The case has been closed.
The Post-Dispatch also reported Arbeiter was acquitted in a 1974 murder and sexual assault in Herculaneum.

Arbeiter was jailed a week ago, with bail set at $500,000, for allegedly sexually assaulting a neighbor, four days before the body parts turned up.

He’s also charged with marijuana related offenses.

Fox 2 News has learned he was also convicted for leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a revoked license in Sedalia in 2010.

He served 10 days in jail and a 4 year suspended sentence.

He’s still on probation for those offenses.

“Mr. Arbeiter certainly does have a long list of interactions with the criminal justice system over the years; we certainly take that into consideration when we’re doing our investigation. We’ll see how that plays out,” Sheriff Bond said. “We’ve got numerous people that we’ve talked with. Really everyone’s being considered as potential suspects until we get more information in regards to the investigation.”

He said forensic anthropologists were looking at the remains Wednesday night; we could learn more about the woman’s identity plus when and how she died, as early as Thursday.